Seeing With My Heart

I’m still reading Attached at the Heart and a few quotes stuck out to me. Let me share.

“Intuitive, conscious, attached parenting requires something that none of us learns on the playground, in the classroom or on the job: Grace!”

“See your children with your heart not with your eyes.”

Parenting intentionally requires much grace because you intentionally make the effort to daily love, enjoy, raise, and understand your kids. I don’t want to parent by chance. It might be easier to just assume that I as the mom think that I know what Judah should and shouldn’t want. Or just simply parent as I have seen done rather than by observing the benefits or lack thereof of a parenting style. But I want to put a lot of thought and energy into being a mom. I don’t want to do what seems normal culturally or even parent as I was parented. I want to seek God’s best parenting from his Word and His best for Judah – after all He created Him and knows exactly what he needs.

I want to see Judah from my heart not from my eyes. I want love to be what drives me. I want the bond that I have with my son to be the foremost thing to be protected as I make decisions.

It is not always easy parenting intentionally. Some days I just want to turn off and put myself first…unfortunately more than I’d like to admit. But I don’t. I press through the feelings of selfishness or the “I deserve…” and give of myself. I try to understand Judah and his needs and wants. Why he loves me so much and wants me to hold him. Why he would prefer to play with me instead of some plastic toy. Why no matter where I may put him so I can fold clothes he always crawls right back over to me. These things may seem an inconvenience but I am humbled by how much he loves me and it makes my love for him grow even more. So I stop what I am doing and hold him, nurse him, sing to him, play with him and make him laugh. That’s what’s really important. I choose to parent!